The wife and I have decided we'd like to get a 3rd vehicle that we can use to tow a travel trailer, the rest of the year itd serve odd jobs, roadtrip, the week or so of snow that we get here in Eugene, some light off roading, maybe some dunes exploration. After much deliberation, I think the gmt800 platform best suits our plans. What Id like help understanding is what years models and such to keep look for. We'd like it to be 4x4, but is it worth holding out for a z71? I'm planning on lifting it an inch or two and upgrading the dampeners to Bilsteins from rockauto.
https://portland.craigslist.org/grg/cto/d/2004-suburban-mechanics/6397186591.html
NMNA
This came up a few hours from me, I'm going to call tomorrow to ask for specifics, mileage, drivetrain, options, etc. Anything I should ask about? Any idea what the cluster problem they mention in the ad might be? I can afford it, but I'm not sure how much better I can do for similar money, or how much less money I can spend on a similar truck. I've also considered writing a wanted ad, but i dunno how effective that could be. What says the hive?
A side note about the transmission issues, I've had a few buddies kill 4l60e's under normal driving, so I'm intentionally shopping for a truck with trans problems, because the only way I'll feel secure in one is if I know it's been rebuilt and upgraded, might as well do it myself. I also have a buddy who used to do it professionally and has all the tools and offered to help me do it over a day at his shop. Any advice? I've read everything I could find, seems like people say wiring gets easier after 03, the engines get better through the years, but it's tough to nail down specifics. Thanks for the help in advance, I've been an active lurker here for years and years, i don't post much, but I love the community here.
Greg
Another question, do the AWD Denali's tow okay? Do they last? They come with really nice looking trucks, but I know I'd miss having 4lo. I think would take escalades off the list too. I know there's a few other similar threads happening, lately, but they seem mostly tow centric, as where that's really only 1 piece of my puzzle. Eventually I'd like it to be a fun weekend adventure rig, a minor lift and bigger tires, but nothing that would ruin it's ability to eat up hwy miles, or tow effectively. No rock crawling, but I love exploring old forest service roads. Maybe more of a rally type suspension. I hope to get hptuners and get familiar. Maybe build a turbo setup. Just sorta cut my ls teeth, and eventually motorswap and turbo something into a mk3 supra with my son. He's 2.5 now, so I've got some time to learn. We don't have a travel trailer yet, but we'd probably get a utility trailer pretty quickly after getting the truck drivable.
I think you can solve or answer all your questions by buying the 2500 version.
4L80 trans, already taller than the 1500’s, plenty of power for towing and stronger everything for off road use along with 4 low.
After many 1/2 ton tahoe/Burbans my buddy asked the dealer how to get something that tows worth a E36 M3. The salesman promptly showed him the brochures, the Denali is the only truck other than a 3/4 ton that is shown towing boats and heavy trailers.
You can only get the big LS motor in the Denali or Caddy.
His first has the 5.3 4L60E that was never in the right gear for the motor. Next he went to a 5.3 with the newer multi speed trans, better but still not enough ass just more gears, that one was bought back with a module problem that the dealer couldn't figure out, they called in corporate to take it back. Last was a newer yet Denali, happy as a clam with it.
In reply to simplecat :
$1800 is cheap, even with those problems, compared to what I found recently. Most I saw with trans problems were still $2500-$3500.
Pete Gossett said:
In reply to simplecat :
$1800 is cheap, even with those problems, compared to what I found recently. Most I saw with trans problems were still $2500-$3500.
Okay cool, that lines up with what I've been asking around here. I've seen some rattier ones for closer to, or under a grand. Usually some body damage at that point.
ebonyandivory said:
I think you can solve or answer all your questions by buying the 2500 version.
4L80 trans, already taller than the 1500’s, plenty of power for towing and stronger everything for off road use along with 4 low.
How much of a milage hit would I take going up to the 2500? How much heavier would it feel? Towing is likely to be less than 10% of the trucks actual usage. It just needs to be able to tow some. Probably a Max of 8k. Which seems to be within the towing guidelines for any variants of the gmt800 chassis
As someone who has a 2004 3/4 ton: it's better. I prefer the stiffer ride, the suspension has more ability to absorb the extra load when you fill the vehicle. With the 1/2 ton, it's ok empty but starts to wallow around and feel uncomfortable under a load (6 full size people and our stuff).
Brakes are much better. 6.0 is stronger than the 5.3 yes mileage takes a hit but as an occasional vehicle I just deal with it.
Quadrasteer is cool for off-roading if you can find one.
Cluster. Every gm of the era has stepper motor issues on the gauges. It’s about $200 to send it off to be rebuilt.
guy up the street put out a 2500 suburban for $3100 if anyone feels like coming to Ohio i can get the info.
I'd go read the plethora of GM specific forums for an answer to all of your questions, and then some.
onemanarmy said:
I'd go read the plethora of GM specific forums for an answer to all of your questions, and then some.
Never a bad choice to spend time on the forums. I like fullsizechevy.com.
onemanarmy said:
I'd go read the plethora of GM specific forums for an answer to all of your questions, and then some.
Problem with marque specific forums is that they’re mostly fanboys of the product. When I exploded the 8.5” rear in my Avalanche on the Avalanche forum they assumed I probably did something wrong but here I heard stories about other 8.5 problems and found out it’s a legit issue and now i see trucks everywhere cheap with bad axles. Here I was a hero with a build thread chronicling the swap to an h2 14 bolt, there I had 2 replies after writing them up a tech thread to help others. It’s not just there, i’ve been a mod/admin at chevytalk since 1999. I love the place, but it’s really hard to not get a biased answer or at worst a knowitall. One guy asked about mechanical fan delete on an lt1 tow pack caprice because the tensioner is NLA. I told him what i did to my impala(aftermarket controller) and the first reply after that was “no way you have a real SS they came stock with e-fans, you’re a hack” never minding the car was wrecked and engineless when i got it so I LS swapped it and made it work my way. You guys know my reputation and it’s not one of a hack. This is why I solely GRM anymore.
You’re generally going to get a much less biased answer here, with the exception of 99% of the forum tenting when it is asked if miata is the answer.
In reply to Patrick :
But Miata is THE answer. Or was for the past 13 years or so of my life. Now days, I wonder what I can find that will handle like the Miata and be as chuckable, but still have some back seat for the dogs, and not kill my decrepit knee's getting out of.
That said. I'm watching this intently due to wondering if it's time to let my truck go and just get a burb or tahoe. Though part of me knows, I'm going to miss the 8' bed.
imgon
Reader
11/27/17 12:53 p.m.
I had an 04 Yukon XL and it was a great riding truck. Way more comfortable than my 14 Suburban. I towed an open trailer with a 2700# car and it hardly knew it was there. The tranny is a weak link in these, but with care there are reliable. If you have someone that can rebuild it with you, the entry price seems pretty good. Make.sue you have agodd trans cooler and I was told to never tow in OD and the tranny was still holding up at 200k miles whan I got rid of it. The biggest beef I had with the 04 was the electrical components going haywire. Mostly little stuff like blend door in the HVAC system, power mirrors doing wierd stuff, nusance stuff in a DD vehicle. The 14 lost some of its "utility" over previous generations but still a good truck. I tow a 20' enclosed trailer now and in New England it handles the hilly terrain just fine, not sure how it would do with real mountains and a couple of times I have wished it had better brakes. If you can find a 2500 they are definitely a better vehicle but they are hard to find in some areas.
